Inside The Huskies

Latest Puyallup High Standout Has Oregon, UW Competing Hard for Him

Gecova Doyal has a pair of fall visits planned for each Northwest school.
Dan Raley|
Gecova Doyal, left, has fall visits set to the UW and Oregon.
Gecova Doyal, left, has fall visits set to the UW and Oregon. | Doyal

Forty miles separate Puyallup High School and Husky Stadium -- and it's been a path well-traveled for countless high-end football players.

From the University of Washington's 1991 national championship team, quarterback Billy Joe Hobert went from Puyallup to direct the often high-powered Husky offense flawlessly that year to a 12-0 record and ultimate glory in the national polls.

Puyallup teammates Joe Kralik and Tom Gallagher, a wide receiver and an offensive lineman, shared in this high-water UW moment and were starters before they used up their Montlake eligibility.

A wave of Huards followed, with Puyallup High alums Damon and Brock, sons of the then Vikings head coach Mike Huard, each starting for three seasons at quarterback for the UW, with their high school and college careers running concurrently.

Wide receiver Dane Looker eventually made his way from Puyallup to the UW, with a stop in between at NAIA Western Washington.

Most of these Puyallup guys, in particular the quarterbacks, ended up in the NFL.

The Huskies now have set their sights on 2027 offensive lineman Gecova Doyal, Puyallup's latest and brightest football talent, considered a top five state recruit and a top 20 lineman nationally and a 4-star prospect.

A 6-foot-4, 285-pounder from the Class of 2027, Doyal is already caught up in a recruiting tug of war involving the UW and Oregon. Everyone seems to admire his athleticism on a big frame that can get a lot bigger in time.

This week, the big kid revealed he will take a pair of visits this fall hosted by the Huskies and the Ducks.

He'll actually bump up against Dan Lanning's team three times by attending the UW-Oregon football game on Nov. 29 at Husky Stadium.

Doyal, who holds 14 scholarship offers to date, has attended football camps at Texas A&M and Texas, and visited Alabama, Tennessee, USC and UCLA.

He seems willing to listen to all prominent suitors, but it shouldn't be a surprise if his recruitment comes down to Oregon and the UW.

If he chooses, Doyal certainly has that Husky back history to guide him.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Published
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Recruiting